Trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

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Trip Start Feb 10, 2008 Previous
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  Machu Picchu, Peru
Friday, March 7, 2008

(posted by steph-- warning, this is a really long post!!!)
  
In one word - absolutely freaking amazing (oops, thatīs 3). 
  
Our bus picked us up at our hostel at 630 am where we began to meet the rest of our group. We were 16 tourists in all, plus 2 guides and about 10 porters. The groups consisted of 1 Brit, 1 Quebec couple, 2 French guys, 1 German girl, 2 Chilean couples, 4 people from Argentina, and our guides Juan and Virgillio. The group quickly split into those who didnīt speak English (all those from South America with the exception of 1 Chilean guy) and the rest of us who didnīt speak Spanish. The bus drove us 2 hours to Ollantaytambo, where we would start our 4 day trek to Machu Picchu.
 
As I mentioned, I was a bit nervous about this whole thing. Sure, we hike at Rancho 3 times a year, so that makes us ready for the Inca trail, right?? Well, I wasnīt so sure. They had told us that day 1 was pretty slow, but that day 2 was the killer. Once we started going though, I started feeling better about the whole thing. Derek and I (and the rest of the English group actually) were a bit annoyed at first because we were going REALLY slow and stopping often to wait for the rest of the group. After the 2nd stop, the guides gave us, the French guys and the Brit the ok to go ahead and just to wait for them at the next checkpoint, so we booked it from there. It was great! Not too tough, but with some tough parts. Itīs definitely a well defined path, but you were still scaling rocks and stepping through rivers.

Derek and his little friend

We hiked for about 2 hours and then stopped at the lunch spot, were we got out first real taste for the porters. THESE GUYS ROCK!!!!! They had set up a little tent, with tables, and stools and table clothes! We had hot tea, soup, and spaghetti for lunch.  As soon as we are done, these guys tear everything down, wrap it all in their canvas sheets (cause none of them have backpacks) and start literally running up the trail to set up our camp for the evening. You should see how much these guys carry!!! It's insane!!!! And they are only wearing sandals!!!! Nuts....
 
We hiked for another 3 hours in the afternoon, maybe a little harder, but not too tough. Oh and did I mention there are 3 or 4 spots along the trail that have old ruins? These are all either old watchtowers or lodges for the Incans hiking the trail. Very cool. We were a good hour and a bit ahead of the rest of our group, which was good because it made the hike very quiet. And since itīs the rainy season, there arenīt really that many groups out on the trail. We got to our campsite (that was at 3300 meters of altitude) around 5 (tents all set up by our friends the porters), and then sat down to another great meal. It was an early night, since you arenīt allowed camp fires or anything on the trail. We ate, and were in bed by 830, all a little nervous about the infamous day 2.
 
We were woken up around 6 and given a great breakfast (toast, tea and a pancake!) by our porters. Today, we were only hiking till about 2 in the afternoon, but we were doing about 5 km straight uphill (and another 4 downhill) which would take us to over 4200 meters of altitude.

Derek nearing the top on day 2

This part of the trek is called Warmiwanusca, which actually means Dead Womanīs Pass in the old Inca language of Quechua (I thought the guides were kidding me at first.... I didnīt think it was very funny!!!). Todayīs hike was haaaaaaarrrrrrrrdddddd. But, Derek and I kicked butt!!!!!! We were the 4th and 5th to the top, with the rest of the group being waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind (yes, Iīm bragging). It rained pretty much all the way, but you didnīt notice it much, until you got to the top - it was freeeeeezing!!! We did a little victory dance, took some pics, then got the hell outta there!!! Unfortunately, what goes up, must come down, so the next 1.5 hours to the campsite were downhill which did a number on my knees. But we got to the campsite around 2, drenched and tired, and ready for lunch. After lunch, it was still miserable and raining and we couldnīt see a whole lot (which was unfortunate because the campsite was perched on a hill with amazing views of the Sacred Valley) so we had a well earned nap. The clouds lifted a bit before dinner, so we enjoyed the view, had a great meal, then off to bed.
 
Day 3 was pretty brutal in my humble opinion. The entire day - 16 km and about 7 hours of hiking - was DOWNHILL. While everyone else was sighing with relief for no more climbing, my knees were swearing! Oh well.... We trekked along. It also poured ALL DAY. We were all getting really nervous that it would be rainy and cloudy when we got to Machu Picchu, which would be so frustrating, but we trudged on.

Steph at 4215 meters

We got to the last campsite around 4 that afternoon, wet, hungry and grumpy. The great thing is though, that this campsite actually had a cabin, with tables, real bathrooms and showers and more importantly, BEER FOR SALE!!!! So we all headed immediately up to the cabin for a few congratulatory, "weīre almost there" beers with the team, the guides and the porters. It could have been a very late night, but we were being woken up at 330 AM the next morning, so we headed back to the cold wet tent around 930.
 
No one likes being woken up at 330, especially when you have to step into wet shorts and shoes, but the promise of arriving at Machu Picchu somehow made it worthwhile. (it didnīt hurt that we were all also freezing in our wet tents, so getting up and moving around sounded good). It was raining when we left after breakfast, but there was a small clearing in the sky and it looked like it might be ok! (AND, the guy from Quebec in our group, who is an insect biologist who specialises in ants, said that the ants were out the night before, so that meant it wasnīt going to rain!). After about 2 hours of a nice trek, we hit the Sun Gate, where we first laid eyes on the amazing Machu Picchu. It was absolutely incredible. This ancient city perched on top of a tiny mountain in the middle of an unbelievable valley. And it was clear!!!! We all thanked the Incan Gods (the Puma, the Condor and the Snake) for the clear weather, and practically ran the last 30 minutes to get to the city.
 
This place is just amazing.

Us and our guides

They discovered Machu Picchu in 1911, and they don't know a whole lot about it for sure, but they think it was an old university. It is huge and unbelievably impressive, with all the different rooms, temples, and types of architecture. We walked around for a few hours while the guide gave us some details of the place. After a bit of a tour, Derek decided to hike the Wayna Pichhu - the mountain behind the ruins. Itīs a steep climb - all stairs (my knees wanted to go up, but since staying up there forever wasnīt an option, and my knees were not going to go DOWN all those steps, I decided to stay at the ruins) but gives an amazing view above the city. We all sat for awhile and admired the grandure of the place (and snarled at the people that came to the ruins by train - they didnīt deserve their visit!! ;)
 
After the visit, we took the bus down some crazy switchbacks to Aquas Caliente - a crappy little town that is way too expensive and takes advantage of all the tourists there for Machu Picchu. We had a great lunch, sauntered around a bit (at this point completely exhausted) and waited for our train that would take us back to Ollantaytambo, where we would then take a bus to Cusco, arriving around 1030 at our hostel - again, wet and tired, but soooooooooo happy with the last 4 days.
 
Here are a few pictures of the trek and Machu Picchu, but itīs impossible to get across how amazing this place is in photos. Everyone pleeeeease add this to your "must do before I die" list, even if you canīt do the trek, you have to visit this absolutely magical place. For those who can do the trek, DO IT. Itīs an amazing hike. Up, down, through jungle, through ruins, over rocks, through valleys, and the whole time youīre remembering that this path was built by an ancient civilization over 600 years ago as they travelled up and down south America. Itīs the most amazing hike we'll probably ever do.
 
Today, back in Cusco, we slept in and rested our aching bodies. We went for a great lunch where Derek tried the local delicacy of Guinea Pig, then we went back for our 2nd nap of the day. We are meeting our group for drinks tonight, to officially celebrate surviving the Inca Trail.
 
This officially marks the end of our short but very sweet trip in South America. It has been truly amazing, and we already have a list of things we want to do next time around. Tomorrow, we fly to Lima, then Sao Paulo, where we catch the red eye to Johannesburg, South Africa. We're a little sad to be leaving South America, but at the same time are really psyched about getting to Africa (the thoughts of the African heat got us through cold night number 3 on the Inca Trail!).  So, we will talk to you from there!!
 
We miss you all!
 
xoxox

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View from the Sun Gate

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